Fender BXR?

  • Thread starter Thread starter El Barto
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El Barto

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Are these good bass amps? I have a Fender Jazz bass (which needs fixing up), and I'm looking for a good amp to get. The BXR-100 fits perfectly in my price range, but is 100W enough for bass? I have a 100W guitar amp that I never turn up past 6 or 7...I usually play it at 5 on overdrive and 4 or 5 on clean. I hear the wattage of bass amps and guitar amps differ...but would I be right to buy this amp? $380 is a great price to me, and I'm a big Fender fan (I love only Fender guitars), so this looks good for me.
 
I was checking into the BXR also until I ran across a Hartke B-90 bass amp. It is basicly the same thing as the BXR but it's 90 watts. I found mine at zzounds.com for $280 (with no shipping or tax) this thing weighs 65 pounds has a 15 inch speaker and it rocks! It has a "shape" dial along with bass and treb. It's a good amp I've been very pleased with it and my Fender P-bass. Check it out!
 
Sounds like a good deal, but is the amp going to be heard in the midst of the guitar, drums, and vocals? Bass is never really prominant in songs...it's kind of a subconscious thing...you hear it but you don't focus on it.
 
Hey i am not much of an expert on anything but i do play bass..... a fender squier, and i have a bxr25 that i play along side my friend myke's marshall twin lead amp(not sure of wattage)and a drummer who is loud as hell, and i only ever turn my volume up to 8 and i am always heard amongst the noise. i just thought i would say that i am satisfied with this amp, and that i think they are pretty good fot the price.
 
We used a Fender BXR 100 quite a few years back in a highschool gym (basketball court) with a hard hitting drummer, guitar player, and a singer. It worked well, though certain spots in the bleachers could not hear the bass to good. My Hartke B-90 compared to the BXR in that situation, is better in my opinion. I think the Hartke's seem to be able to cut through the other noises better.
 
The Fender BXR series is pretty solid. I have had personal gigging experience with both the BXR 100, and BXR 200, and both worked equally as well in medium sized clubs, although the 200 offers more headroom due to more power, and sports a bit better tone in my opinion than the 100. The price is reasonable, and I have seen used BXR 200's on E-bay for under $400. The type of room in which you gig has a significant influence on how well your amp will work. When playing a large hall without additional sound reinforcement, (PA system) the BXR 100 may have a tendency to sound sparse. I now use the SWR Workingman's 15 which is more expensive but what I believe to offer better tone, and quality. I would feel comfortable purchasing the Fender BXR's though. They are affordable, pretty reliable, and can take some nicks, and cuts. Good luck.
 
El Barto
You may want to check out the bass player web site. They did a shoot out on bass combos and it was very informitive. I've been Thumping & Poping for some now and if you realy want to stand out in the mix your going to need more amp than the BXR 100. You would be better off saving some more bucks and buying a better amp the first time.

See Ya;
RussP
 
Speaking of that Bass Player Magazine shootout,I seem to remember that the Ampeg 50 watt combo won hands down in the 1-12 category,and the Workingman's 15 by SWR won the 1-15.
 
I think your right Virtual.ray, and the fender didn't rate very well. I like to run my bass amp at about 25% or the powewr band to keep the sound tight & punchy. Most small combos offer up large amounts of unwanted distorition when you start to push them past 1/2 volume. When looking for a amp try to find one that's rated at 8 ohms so you get to run an extention cab. Fender is notorious for rating their amps at 4 ohms to boost the ratings for the printed info. A quality combo will have a extention speaker plug on the back.

El Barto; You may try to find a used Nemesis by Eden, the 1 15 combo is an amazing sounding amp. It will run down to 2 ohms!

RussP
 
Well it looks like the SWR 12 came in a close second on the 12" combo shootout...a very close...and at 100W, it's gotta be much louder than the Ampeg...and the price isn't all too bad...I think I might go with that one. Any disagreements?
 
I tried both the 12 and the 15 last year,and although I really liked the tone of both,I decided that neither would cut it for playing with a band,BECAUSE,you see,I play 5 string with a low B (31 hz!),and those last few semitones below D really need some watts to come out clean like you want 'em to.I ended up getting an SWR SM400-S(500W @ 4ohms)and an ACME SOUND Low B-2 Cabinet,which I really enjoy.BUT if I were playing 4 string,I probably would have gone with one of those Workingman's combos 'cause they sound real good.Cheers!
 
I've played both the workingkman 12 & 15. The 15 sounded much larger with better bottem end. If you plan to play live I would try the 15. I also play a 5 string and I was looking at the SWR red head but when I used the combo alone is sounded loosd & flabby with the B string. IMO a 100 watt bass amb is like a 25 watt guitar amp. Wattage means headroom, and headroom means a loud tight clean bass amp.

RussP
 
for that $$$ range get the SWR its sturdier.. I had two BXRs when I started playing gigs years back and blew both of them.. If you are playing country or jazz it would do ok im sure. At a live gig its miked anyhow and should be sent throught the monitors, but they cant handle much power.
 
Yeah, that's what I was going to say...but that's only at some/most clubs...I might play a lot of parties and such, and there won't be much of a PA system like that there...
 
BXR bass amps

Yep.......these puppies have been discontinued.The new Bassman series by Fender is good and has a sound of it's own,but I feel that the BXR series have more punch in the
low end,while the new Bassman series has more of an "SVT"
low end...........which is nice!Overall,I would look to buy the BXR amps.The graphic EQ on the BXR200 (my favorite)
really makes the sound impressive and versatile.
 
I'd also stay away from any Fender combos. Except for the BXR 25, they're all pretty crummy.

Will C.:cool:
 
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